Re: svadharma - another view
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
Originally Posted by
yajvan
So, the question - if this is so fundamental to life, to existence, why then do I not readily feel this ? Why is it not simply appearant to us ? They say breath is vital to us; when I stop breathing I know this truth in 30 seconds , I know I need air and there is no surprise that it is vital to life. Why then not this level of existence you to talk of ? Why does it not stick out like a sore thumb?
Here are my views on this matter. We as humans ( including me ) function in the world of change. This infers we need change to recognize something occuring. We know hot because there is cold to compare it to. We know happy because sad exists; We know fast because we have experienced slow.
Note that when we think we hear something moving we say shush!!! be still and we wait to hear some change occur in that silence that was created . With that change we can say, oh that sound came from that direction, it ( what ever it is, a mouse, fly, person, dog, cat, etc) is over there! It is by change that we recognize events.
Now enter Being, pure existence... the most refined level of existence. It is everywhere , there is no gap in it. Like music we appreciate the beat when we sense the gap between measures. Yet with Being it is ubiquitous, unending, perfect continunity. It is present in every fiber, sound, sight, smell, taste, feeling, emotion, object and non-object. So where then can be this change to sense a difference of going from a Being to a non-Being state ? It is like white on rice. It is so much part of the rice, that who even says there is white then there is the rice. It is like wet to water... they are tightly coupled.
This is the pickle we are in... what is the way then to Being ? The answer is offered to us in many ways. I am fond of the answer found in the work called pratyavbhijñāhṛdayaṁ authored by kṣemarāja-ji, śiṣya of abhinavagupta. This word pratyabhijñāhṛdayaṁ means the re-recognition of ones Self - in this word hṛdya is used as ~heart~ or the inner most , most dear, and hence the Self.
It is the notion of ~siliencing~ one's self in reverse order - like 3 2,1.
It is getting to where there is Self and non-Self. We will look at this idea in the next post, so lets first set the stage.
What is this 3, 2, 1 ?
3
Three fold - as śiva comes within boundaries, some like to call this condensation of the Infinite, this condensing resides within the following three:
- aṇu - fine , minute , atomic. Another way of saying the Supreme being condensed into the finite realm of the manifest.
- We can call this 'us'. We are considered condensed consciousness of the Supreme, and we are then jiva's.
- māyā - this word is rooted in mā , meaning to measure. Hence this the notion of the Infinite being (as if) measured out into finite things.
- many come to the conclusion that this māyā is anchored in the notion of illusion found in ādi śaṃkara's view of advaita vedānta ( some call śāntabrahmavāda). This is not the case here.
- this māyā brings about the experince of differnces for us e.g. good , small, hot cold, good bad, right , wrong. It is the Supreme measured out in differences.
- karma is karman - action , performance. I are not alluding to the theory of karma here. It is actions we perform. Many say they are rooted in vāsnanās - impressions in in the mind ( some like to call this citta, ~individual~ conscousness).
2
Two fold - He is consciousness (caitanya) which is unbounded & He is the manifest creation that is within boundaries
1
One - we know He is Fullness, anuttara, brahman ( unsurpassable)
You see, the notion here is we are this Being already - we do not need to go anywhere, but to just get back to this silence of 1 , which is our natural state, and then we have this ah-haaa! moment. It is first experienced with the notion of Self and non-Self.
This idea is supported in the yoga sūtra-s (some call yoga darśana) of patanjali. We will address the one sūtra in the next post that sets the stage.
praṇām
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
Bookmarks